Jan. 10, 2010
2010 01 10 Looking Up
Isaiah 60:1-6
Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14
Ephesians 3:1-12
Matthew 2:1-12
I am just going ot begin this morning with a simply fact about myself. I love kids. I love kids, and I love being around kids. Maybe that has something to do with my refusal to grow up. However, I think it is because of the potential I see in children. When you look at a child, whether they are 2, 12, or 22, you never really know what exactly they are thinking. And you never know what they are capable of doing.
I cherish each new skill that Ben masters, and each new word that he learns and uses. I can honestly say that I have no idea how far and how fast his development will take him, but I look forward to it. Ben's autism is a condition that he has, but it is not who he is. Autism is a part of what we know about Ben, but it is not who he is. I think that we all look forward to see the person that Ben will someday become.
Katie is another story altogether. I am sure that most of you have run into her when she has been a sweet little girl, and you have seen her when she has been less than sweet. She is still Daddy's little girl, and I need to remember that she needs my love and attention as much as Ben does. Like any child her age, she doesn't know what she wants to do with her life, but the potential to become great is immeasurable.
This week, we got a flier from E-HOVE. Throughout the winter, they offer all sorts of classes for kids. Sure enough, she decided she wanted to take a class in...cooking. . I'm pretty good with a microwave oven, and any meal that Jen cooks is greatly appreciated by yours truly. But honestly, neither of us will ever be mistaken for world-class chefs. However, if Katie wants to become a chef, Jen and I should encourage this. Maybe she will try it and like it. Maybe she will grow tired, and stop after this one class. Maybe this is what God is calling her to become, and maybe it is not. The thing is...the potential is there, and we all need to encourage kids to become great. We never know God how and where God may use us.
As kids, we all probably had different ideas of what we wanted to be when we grew up. For a little while, I wanted to become an astronomer. I don't really remember why. No one ever came up to me and said that I should be one. In fact, I never even had a telescope or a star chart. I just remember thinking that this was what I wanted to be in life...a person who studies the stars. At one point or another, I lost interest in that. In college, when I could have taken astronomy classes and gone to the Perkins observatory north of Columbus, I didn't even bother. I think that the classes sounded too much like work, and not fun.
From time to time, we all wonder what if... What would have happened if I had studied astronomy. What would my life be like if I had followed the stars, so to speak. This morning, we take a look at a group of people who did...the magi.
For many years, I had taken the magi for granted. We sing of them as three kings. (In fact we will sing of them at the end of the service today.) Were they kings? Were there three of them? Actually, it doesn't say that they were or how many were there. It says that there were magi... ma,goi. They were wise and likely highly educated. Not many people could afford such an education unless they were raised as royalty...as kings.
Were there three of them? Actually, the Bible doesn't say, but we do know from Matthew 2:11, that they brought three gifts. I know that Christmas was over two weeks ago, but do we remember what they were? (Gold, incense, and myrrh). Whether it was three kings, three wisemen, or simply a group of wisemen, we do know that they came. And we know that it was their insights into stargazing that brought them first to Jerusalem, and then on to Bethlehem.
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
Bethlehem is about 6 miles from Jerusalem. They had been following the star toward Bethlehem, but wound up in Jerusalem. There are many ideas why this might have happened. Perhaps, coming from the east, the major trade routes may have taken them through Jerusalem. Perhaps they stopped in Jerusalem because it is a royal city, the place where kings might be. Maybe dumb luck brought them to Jerusalem, or perhaps it is exactly where God was leading them. Listen to what happened next.
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
They say that that there are three things that you are not to talk about in mixed company: politics, religion, and money. With Herod we see two of these three unfolding before our eyes. Israel had been occupied by the Romans for many years, and there had been no real Jewish king, only a puppet governor controlled by Rome. If Israel were to have a king once again, this news would shake the foundations of the entire region. This news was exactly the sort of thing that could cause an uprising, and the Romans were notorious for how they dealt with these. It is no wonder that all of Jerusalem was disturbed.
4 When (Herod) had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: 6 "'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'"
All the chief priests and teachers of the law would come at Herod's call....Herod had that kind of power. He could call on anyone, and they were expected to reply. As I was preparing this, something hit me for the first time. Maybe I'm just a little slow. But let me ask you. Throughout his ministry and at the end of his life, who is it that brings Jesus the most grief? Who is it that gives him the most resistance? What group of people worked the hardest to put Jesus on the cross? The chief priests and teachers of the law. They were with the Romans at Jesus' beginning, and we will see how they are with the Romans at his end.
Back to our story from today, Herod sends the magi off to Bethlehem. They are to seek out the child and report back to Herod, so that he might "go and worship him." Herod planned to use the magi to find Jesus, so that he might deal with this King of the Jews himself.
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.
I think that we can only imagine that scene when the wisemen first saw Jesus. There are a million questions that come to my mind when I read this passage. How did they know that they star had stopped? How did it point out where Jesus was? How? When? Where? What? And it is here that I realize that I need to stop asking questions, and simply look at the wisemen. They were overjoyed. The questions in my mind seem to melt away when I realize that this encounter between the wisemen and the baby Jesus was an occasion of great joy. These men of great wisdom and from far off lands, at the end of a long journey... bowed down and worshiped him.
Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
This year, more than any other, I have learned a great deal from the wisemen. Whereas I once thought them to be nothing more than a side note in the Christmas story, I see that they are some of the most pivotal characters in the birth narrative. Just who are these guys, that God should use them? They weren't Jewish. They weren't from that culture, heritage, or history. They were pagans, and we don't know if they even believed in God...until then. What they were...was faithful. They began their journey, and not knowing their destination, they saw it through to the end. God used them greatly, and today we are blessed by the faithfulness of a three wisemen.
For a minute, let's look at our own lives. What direction is our life heading? Where will we end up if we follow the stars set before us? There is very little that is certain in our world, yet throughout it all, God calls us to follow him. We have no idea where he might lead us. We don't know which people, what blessings, or which obstacles might lie in our path, but God is out there. Leading us in a direction of his choosing, of his calling, and most importantly, he promises to be there with us.
We do not always know where God is leading us, but if we keep looking up to Him, there is no telling how each and every one of us leave a legacy of faith and faithfulness for many generations and many centuries to come. If a few wisemen coming from afar can do this, just imagine the potential that we can make together. Keep looking up! Keep looking up!
